Alan Hahn's latest Fix is chock full of promise and mystique. The best beat bro in the business cites a source who claims that Donnie Walsh has a few sign-and-trade offers in play for David Lee, each of which would preclude the default one-year deal with New York. We can only speculate as to the trade partners in question and the potential return packages, but Hahn guesses Portland as a possible suitor. The rumor's always been that the Blazers had Lee in their sights, and after being spurned by Paul Millsap, they might still be hankering for some frontcourt help. I have no idea why Portland would want to spend on another big man, but these things aren't really up to me. Anyway, like Hahn says, it's all speculative. It could be Portland, or it could be the Indiana Fever for all we know. Whoever it is, somebody still wants David Lee, and neither the Knicks nor Lee('s agent, Mark Bartelstein) will settle for the qualifying offer until all avenues are explored.
All of this leads me to a difficult question. We all love David Lee, but things seem to be shaking down to a choice between the lesser of two evils. With a multi-year deal apparently out of the conversation, it's either sign Lee for another season and let him explore the open market next summer, or cash out now and get some players in return. For what it's worth (and based on what Hahn says about Rudy Fernandez), I don't think Walsh would agree to a deal for Lee that didn't net some actual basketball talent. The man's not gonna squander perhaps the Knicks' most valuable player for miscellaneous expiring contracts. He'd only do it for miscellaneous expiring contracts with SKILLZ. Anyway, to the polls: